Savings bank insertion slot safety mechanism

ABSTRACT

Savings bank insertion slot safety mechanism with several locking clasps situated on the inside of the insertion slot and movable against one another and held in a locking position by means of spring tension, the front ends of the locking clasps entering, in the locked position, into the slot up to the middle of the insertion slot and being pressed into released position when a coin is inserted in the slot in which the locking clasps are guided independently of one another and transversely to the insertion slot, the front ends of the locking clasps are tilted downward, and the locking clasps rest with their rear ends each on a common spring element arranged on the corresponding side.

United States Patent Krone et al.

1451 Oct. 10, 1972 [541 SAVINGS BANK INSERTION SLOT SAFETY MECHANISM[72] Inventors: Heinz Krone, Asperg; Wilhelm Hoffmann, Ludwigsburg, bothof Germany [73] Assignee: Krone G.m.b.I'I., Ludwigsburg/Wurttemberg,Weit, Germany [22] Filed: Dec. 4, 1970 [2]] Appl. No.: 95,072

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Dec. 4, 1969 Germany ..P 19 60978.0

[52] US. Cl ..232/4, 232/55 [51] Int. Cl. ..A47g 29/00 [58] Field ofSearch ..232/4, 5, 6, 55, 58, 15

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 898,206 9/ 1908 Fisher..232/4 R 1,445,771 2/ 1923 Keplinger ..232/4 R 1,459,424 6/1923 Wagar..232/4 R 1,547,742 7/1925 Fisher ..232/4 R 1,640,569 8/1927 I-lalverson..232/4 R 1,701,163 2/1929 Sandkuhl ..232/4 R 1,827,388 10/1931 Fisher..232/4 R 1,863,148 6/1932 Zell ..232/4 R FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS 295,872 8/1928 Great Britain ..232/4 R 91,970 6/1958 Norway..232/4 R Printary ExaminerFrancis K. Zugel Attorney-Finnegan,Henderson, Farabow & Garrett [57] ABSTRACT Savings bank insertion slotsafety mechanism with several locking clasps situated on the inside ofthe insertion slot and movable against one another and held in a lockingposition by means of spring tension, the

' front ends of the locking clasps entering, in the locked position,into the slot up to the middle of the insertion slot and being pressedinto released position when a coin is inserted in the slot in which thelocking clasps are guided independently of one another and transverselyto the insertion slot, the front ends of the locking clasps are tilteddownward, and the locking clasps rest with their rear ends each on acommon spring element arranged on the corresponding side.

7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures menu-100m 10 m2 3; 696, 992

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HEINZ KRONE WILHELM HOFFMANN lnrenlars Zwagan/ZndeasoaQ ffiafiaflATTORNEYS SAVINGS BANK INSERTION SLOT SAFETY MECHANISM The invention hasto do with an insertion slot safety mechanism for a savings bank withseveral locking clasps situated on the inside of the insertion slotmovable against one another and held in a locking position by means ofspring tension. The front ends of the locking clasps enter, in thelocked position, into the slot and up to the middle of the insertionslot and, when a coin is inserted, the front ends are pressed into oneof the positions released by the slot.

In a known insertion slot safety mechanism of this kind (German PatentNo. 1,038,805) the locking clasps are housed tiltably against springtension. These locking clasps in the area of the insertion slot arearranged as tilting edges in the inner or outer vertical sides of tinboxes attached to the wall of the saving bank whichaccommodate in theirhollow spaces the springs which counteract the tipping. The springs arepreferably made of rubber springs with rope-shaped hollow profile orfull profile, whereby the locking clasps are supported either directlyto the springs or else through a squared-off side. These tin boxes onboth sides of the insertion slot, which serve as'tilting edges and whichaccommodate the springs, have a relatively great overall height.Consequently, the inside space of the savings bank is reduced in size.

In another known form of the kind described above (German Patent No.357,532) the locking clasps are held securely to both sides of theinsertion slot so that by means of spring clasps of a plate which iscomposed of spring sheet metal and attached to the underside of thecover with its front sides turned away from the insertion slot, they arepressed against a stop, whereby the locking clasps with pick-shaped endsengage into the notches of the locking clasps in the vicinity of thestop.

In other known forms of insertion slot safety mechanisms (U.S. Pat. No.1,115,606 and French Pat. No. 706,981) the locking clasps are supportedby fixed axles and weighted by means of springs so that they alwaysreturn to the locked position.

These known insertion slot safety mechanisms for savings banks have thebasic drawback that they require a relatively large, free space becauseof the rotatable arrangement of the locking clasps.

The invention, therefore, has the object of designing an insertion slotsafety mechanism of the kind described above in such a way that it ispossible to obtain a reduction in space with simple construction.

This object is achieved in the case of a savings bank safety mechanismof the kind described above, according to the invention, in that thelocking clasps which are guided adjustably independently of one anotherand transversely to the insertion slot, the front ends of the lockingclasps are tilted downward, can rest with their rear ends each on acommon spring element situated on the corresponding side. Since theindividual locking 6o acting in the longitudinal direction of thelocking clasps, and they are moved out of the insertion slot against theforce of the spring element. In order to make it still more difficultfor the coins to slip out in the opposite direction, the edges which areturned away from one another of the ends which are tilted downward ofthe locking clasps can be beveled.

In order to achieve the most simple possible holding of the springelement and a simple guiding of the locking clasps, according to afurther development of the invention, there is a plate on both sides ofthe insertion slot. This plate lies on the wall of the savings bank andit has recesses opened to the wall of the savings bank. In theserecesses the spring element is held and the locking clasps are guided.By means of this plate, which is only slightly thicker than the lockingclasps, it is possible to obtain a holding support and guide for thespring elements and the locking clasps which is simple in design andrequires little space.

According to a further development of this invention, it is possible toprovide on the adjustable locking clasps shift path limiting stops whichare opposite counterstops on the clasp guides. Thus, according to apreferred embodiment, extensions are directed mutually to both sides ofa guide for the locking clasps. These extensions engage in a side recessof the locking clasps, whereby the recesses in the longitudinaldirection of the locking clasps exceed the dimensions of the extensionsby the necessary displacement path.

According to a further development of the invention, the spring elementis a spring cushion made of elastic material such as elastic, foamymaterial. The spring cushion in this case can be beam-shaped and therear ends are supported with very flat from surfaces to a side face ofthe beam-shaped spring cushion. The utilization of a spring cushion madeof elastic material has the advantage that it is possible to obtain acompletely independent support of the individual locking clasps withoutany mutual interference.

Naturally, instead of a spring cushion we could use a corrugated steelspring which also permits a nearly independent spring suspension of thelocking clasps.

Preferably, the locking clasps and/or the guides are made of a materialwith a low coefficient of friction in order to permit an easy sliding ofthe locking clasps in the guides.

The invention is represented by way of example in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a top view of a savings bank insertion slot safety mechanismmade as a built-in unit;

FIG. 2 shows this insertion slot safety mechanism without a cover plate;

FIGS. 3 and 4 show a cross-sectional view through the insertion slotsafety mechanism; and

FIG. 5 shows an assembly view of the parts forming the insertion slotsafety mechanism.

The insertion slot safety mechanism for savings banks which isrepresented in the drawings is designed in the form of a block as abuilt-in unit which can be insetted in a correspondingly cut out coverof a savings bank.

The overall built-in unit is composed of a cover plate 1 and a baseplate 2 which is provided with recesses 3 and 4.

Slots 5 and 6 are provided both in the cover plate 1 and in the baseplate 2. Inthe assembled state these slots are superimposed over thebuilt-in unit and serve as an insertion slot for coins 7.

Locking clasps 8 are provided in the recesses 3 transversely to theinsertion slot 5 and 6. These locking clasps reach with their front ends9, which are tilted downward, in their locked position up to the middleof the insertion slot. The rear ends with their stumps cut off thelocking clasps 8 rest against a spring cushion 10 in the shape of a beamwhich is made of elastic, foamy material. The spring cushions 10 areheld in the recesses 4 of the base plate 2. In the embodiment which isillustrated, the recesses 4' corresponding to the recesses 4 areprovided with small depth in the cover plate so that still a part of thespring cushion 10 engages into the recesses 4', as can be seen fromFIGS. 3 and 4. When a coin 7 is inserted, the locking clasps are pushedaway from one another because of the spring force of the spring cushion10, which thereby becomes deformed, as is shown in FIG. 4. Instead ofthe spring cushion 10 we can also use a corrugated steel spring 11 whichis inserted into the recess 4 (FIG. 2) so that the corrugated spring canstretch with the return of the locking clasps 8.

The clasps 8 have on both sides recesses 12 into which extensions 13engage on both sides of the recesses 3 serving for longitudinaldirection, whereby the length of the recesses 12 is greater by theamount of the necessary shift path than the size of the extension 13extending in the longitudinal direction of the locking clasps. As can beseen from FIG. 2, the locking clasps 8 slide between elongated ridges 14on cover plate 1 and base plate 2.

In the embodiment which is shown, the cover plate 1 and the base plate 2are composed of a ductile elastic synthetic material. Recesses 15 areprovided on the edges of the base plate 2 at various points. Hookshapedextensions 16 of the cover plate 1 engage into these recesses, as aresult of which both plates are connected to one another. Mutuallyaligned eyelets 17 are provided on two opposite sides of the cover plate1 and the base plate 2. These eyelets l7 serve the purpose of securingthe built-in unit in a recess of a savings bank. Of course, the baseplate 2 can be secured with the inserted locking clasps 8 and springcushions 10 directly onto the wall of a savings bank which (the wall) isprovided with an insertion slot, for example, by screwing in which casea separate cover plate is not necessary.

What is claimed is:

1. A safety mechanism for a savings bank including a cover surfaceprovided with an insertion slot, comprising a plurality of pairs ofblocking tongues located adjacent to the insertion slot and mounted fortransverse movement relative to the insertion slot, the front ends ofthe blocking tongues abutting in the middle of the insertion slot inclosed positions, and the blocking tongues being forced back intopositions allowing access through the slot when a coin is inserted, abase plate having a central slot in registration with the insertion slotand a plurality of guides for receiving and guiding the blocking tonguesin transverse movement relative to the insertion slot and parallel tothe cover surface of the savings bank, and a common spring element locatd on each side of t e in ertion slot for en a in the blocking tongues onat side to urge the bl cfiing tongues into the closed positions.

2. A safety mechanism for a savings bank insertion slot according toclaim 1, wherein the blocking tongues are provided with limit stops andthe guides of said base plate include counter stops cooperating with thelimit stops for limiting movement of said tongues relative to saidguides.

3. A safety mechanism for a savings bank insertion slot according toclaim 1, wherein oppositely located stops are provided on both sides ofthe guides for the blocking tongues, the stops engaging lateral recessesformed in the blocking tongues, and the lateral recesses havingclearances longitudinally along the blocking tongues exceeding the sizeof the counter stops by the required length of displacement.

4. A safety mechanism for a savings bank insertion slot according toclaim 1, wherein the spring element consists of an elastic padding suchas elastic foam.

5. A safety mechanism for a savings bank insertion slot according toclaim 4, wherein the elastic padding is beam-like and the rear ends ofthe blocking tongues include flat surfaces for engaging a lateralsurface of the beam-like elastic padding.

6. A safety mechanism for a savings bank insertion slot according toclaim 1, wherein the spring element consists of an undulatory steelspring.

7. A safety mechanism for a savings bank insertion slot according toclaim 1, which includes a cover plate mounted over said base plate toconfine said blocking tongues in said guides.

1. A safety mechanism for a savings bank including a cover surfaceprovided with an insertion slot, comprising a plurality of pairs ofblocking tongues located adjacent to the insertion slot and mounted fortransverse movement relative to the insertion slot, the front ends ofthe blocking tongues abutting in the middle of the insertion slot inclosed positions, and the blocking tongues being forced back intopositions allowing access through the slot when a coin is inserted, abase plate having a central slot in registration with the insertion slotand a plurality of guides for receiving and guiding the blocking tonguesin transverse movement relative to the insertion slot and parallel tothe cover surface of the savings bank, and a common spring elementlocated on each side of the insertion slot for engaging the blockingtongues on that side to urge the blocking tongues into the closedpositions.
 2. A safety mechanism for a savings bank insertion slotaccording to claim 1, wherein the blocking tongues are provided withlimit stops and the guides of said base plate include counter stopscooperating with the limit stops for limiting movement of said tonguesrelative to said guides.
 3. A safety mechanism for a savings bankinsertion slot according to claim 1, wherein oppositely located stopsare provided on both sides of the guideS for the blocking tongues, thestops engaging lateral recesses formed in the blocking tongues, and thelateral recesses having clearances longitudinally along the blockingtongues exceeding the size of the counter stops by the required lengthof displacement.
 4. A safety mechanism for a savings bank insertion slotaccording to claim 1, wherein the spring element consists of an elasticpadding such as elastic foam.
 5. A safety mechanism for a savings bankinsertion slot according to claim 4, wherein the elastic padding isbeam-like and the rear ends of the blocking tongues include flatsurfaces for engaging a lateral surface of the beam-like elasticpadding.
 6. A safety mechanism for a savings bank insertion slotaccording to claim 1, wherein the spring element consists of anundulatory steel spring.
 7. A safety mechanism for a savings bankinsertion slot according to claim 1, which includes a cover platemounted over said base plate to confine said blocking tongues in saidguides.